More Focus – Page 366

  • Five ways to fight back
    Features

    Five ways to fight back

    2005-06-17T00:00:00Z

    As a small contractor, you might be exposed to a higher risk of getting squashed. But then, small firms can change direction, rebrand and find new markets faster than major contractors can hold a board meeting. We report on the five best ways to stay in business

  • Features

    Checklist

    2005-06-16T14:58:00Z

    Sport facilities are invariably humid. Here, Barbour Index and Scott Brownrigg explain how to stop moisture in the air turning into water vapour that can damage the fabric and finishes

  • The Easy Build Sports Centre will be built off site to Sport England specifications
    Features

    Products

    2005-06-16T14:38:00Z

    Get active with a modular sport centre, a shock-absorbing floor and changing-room cubicles. Plus, modish black smoke sensors for nightclubs, horizontal sliding windows and an easy-to-install cycle stand

  • AFL’s magnificent double-tiered Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is designed for maximum coolness – and impact, with spectator seats close to the action, UK-style
    Features

    Sport and leisure

    2005-06-16T14:28:00Z

    This week, we find out how to specify gyms and nightclubs without breaking into a sweat, showcase all the latest products for your facilities and provide our always-essential suppliers list. But first, the British architect designing a breezy field of dreams in sweltering Abu Dhabi …

  • Hoodies
    Features

    Hoodies vs house hunters

    2005-06-13T15:00:00Z

    Hoodies take over from hooligans as the biggest deterrent for would be housebuyers.

  • Features

    If the shoe fits…

    2005-06-13T14:55:00Z

    2000 year-old boot is rarer than a glass slipper.

  • Features

    Local lowdown: Midlands

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    Hays Construction & Property's Robert Smith reports on the Midlands job boom

  • Features

    Appointments

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    Movers and shakers this week

  • St Thomas' glass vault
    Features

    Open-air surgery

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    Hopkins Architects’ design for a London hospital is a vivid demonstration of how design and healthcare can be combined to make a healing environment.

  • Construction: no place for women!
    Features

    Construction: no place for women!

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    You’d think the industry would have moved into the 21st century by now, but when it comes to recruiting women it seems more like a 1950s Harry Enfield spoof. So does the industry not want women or is it they who aren’t interested?

  • Coming soon in 3D
    Features

    Coming soon in 3D

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    In the world of 3D computing, architects and engineers have benefited from having their own software, whereas contractors have gone without – until now. We take a look at Virtual Construction and asks how likely the people it’s aimed at are to use it

  • Features

    Losing momentum

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    Construction output and prices will continue to rise in the coming months, but the forward momentum is set to slow, according to the latest research from Experian Business Strategies

  • John Montague
    Features

    Just the job

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    John Montague exchanged life at a billion-pound turnover contractor for a career in charitably funded ‘social enterprise’.

  • Features

    Appointments

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    ContractorGeoffrey Osborne has appointed Rod Peck operations manager for its South Midlands homes division.HousebuildersAffordable housing provider Lovell has recruited Siân Byrne as business development manager for Wales.Warren O’Callaghan has been appointed part exchange manager at Fairclough Homes’ northern home counties division based at St Albans, Hertfordshire.Gary Belcher has joined Northampton-based ...

  • Features

    Cost update: June 2005

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    In this quarter’s analysis of construction materials and labour prices, Davis Langdon reports on the inflationary effect of steel costs (which may have peaked) and wage increases (which continue unabated)

  • No go
    Features

    No go

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    There’s just one tiny problem with John Prescott’s plan for a brave new England filled with 200,000 extra homes: housebuilders seem to have lost interest in taking him there.

  • Features

    ‘Something has to give’

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    We look at planning and social housing

  • Doing good by stealth
    Features

    Doing good by stealth

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    The new chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation is a quiet American. But Hank Dittmar’s lack of showiness is well suited to a charity that is aiming to slowly and subtly transform urban England.

  • The sublime
    Features

    How good an architect is Norman Foster?

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    Jonathan Meades assesses the great man’s work

  • The client strikes  back
    Features

    The client strikes back

    2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

    It could spark a civil war of intergalactic proportions: the British Property Federation has drawn up a contract for consultants’ appointments, and it’s turning into a struggle of light versus dark. But which side is captained by Darth Vader and which by Luke Skywalker?